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JERMAIN Defoe linked with Chelsea? Yep, all the signs that Spurs fans must dread are there.

It's how it starts - a few whispers on the back pages, a gathering momentum as the January transfer window eases open, and then he'll be off as Spurs forget all their promises and roll over at the first whiff of Roman's millions.

I'd like to drop a ton of the smelly stuff on Defoe's head but, for once, I make him absolutely right. Why hang around in mid-table mediocrity when a club of true stature awaits in the wings?

Tottenham have done nothing to convince anybody of their ability to impact upon the Premiership.

They've got pretensions of grandeur but that's all it is, pretence. There's not an ounce of substance to back it up.

There's a chairman whose bumbling and lack of nerve has already ruined this season, a managerial duo who will need at least another two months to gel properly, and a bunch of faceless imports in the form of Erik Edman, Thimothee Atouba, Noureddine Naybet and Pedro Mendes who have "hapless" written right through them.

So if you're Defoe or Ledley King or even Robbie Keane ,what's the incentive to stay?

Get out, while the going's good . . . and don't believe a word of Tottenham's empty promises.